Old is old again or Internet Piracy

Ok, every band and record label is incredibly concerned about piracy. I can see their point. You work hard and you want compensated. Everyone was buzzing when RadioHead let people set their own price to download their last album. It was an incredible gutzy move and one I hope sets a trend (doubt it, tho). One of my personal favorite bands takes an incredibly liberal view about sharing their music. On their site, they tell their fans they are fine with people recording their concerts, posting/sharing them online as long as they send them copies along with a description of the equipment used to record so they can compare. They don’t address copying their CDs, but they don’t condone it. I can only assume they feel this helps spread the word about their music and increases the chance of someone new becoming a fan. It makes sense. No matter what modern marketers may say, it’s a time proven tactic used by drug dealers and casinos. Let ’em have some freebies and they’ll have to pay for the good quality stuff. Honestly, they remind me a bit like the grateful dead. They are heavy tourers, have a loyal fan following and don’t really fit into the music corporate environment. I love the attitude. It makes me like the band even more.

Now about the band… Let me start with, I have varied musical tastes. Well… varied if you think there are incredible variations of vanilla. My ipod has Sinatra, Elvis, Country, early punk, bubblegum rock, weird al, angry woman rock, ’80’s canadian rock, meatloaf, Dylan (it’s still there, Tom, whereever you are), Neil Diamond and a bunch of bluegrass. The band I’m talking about transcends all of them…

I STRONGLY urge you to check out Hayseed Dixie. They are a bluegrass band that covers hardrock songs. They started out mostly covering AC/DC songs (hence the name). AC/DC heard them/loved them/had them open for them on a few tours. They are big in Europe. I have most of their albums.

And definitely check out some of the streaming audio from their concerts… very good and band endorsed. They have an incredibly liberal policy on people recording and posting/sharing concert tapes. Their only request is that you also send them a copy.:internet archive
I suggest Big Balls and Highway to Hell.